It Starts With Three
by twinSky
Summary: When they were younger he had once overheard Selphie tell Kairi that one day she'd have to choose between him and Riku, and he hadn't really understood what that had meant -they were all best friends, why would she ever have to choose between them? As it turns out, she really never would have to.


Somehow I always manage to finish the most recent thing I start because the idea keeps nagging at me than any of the other actual fics I should be finishing. Oh well, I really wanted to write some sorikai and I had the greatest time writing this tbqh (Sorikai is absolutely canon and I'm here to prove it)

Though this ended up being a lot more, I guess the word is introspective, than I planned.

Okay so formatting here is a bitch, it keeps deleting my spaces even though they are necessary and i hate how clumped together it looks without it, so when u see one dot just imagine an empty space please.

* * *

**It Starts With Three**

When they were younger, before darkness took their island that first time and the keyblade chose him, back when Kairi was still new to the island and their greatest worry was stormy days because that meant they weren't allowed on Play Island, he had once overheard a conversation between Kairi and Selphie.

"One day you'll have to choose between Riku and Sora!" She had squealed voice high and excited but her eyes serious as if this was the most important of facts.

He hadn't understood what she meant at the time, didn't understand why she would ever have to choose –they were all best friends together! Still though, it had bothered him greatly and while he forgot about it soon enough he had spent the rest of the day pensive, worried one day they really wouldn't all be together.

The thought had scared him, Riku and Kairi were his most important people and he didn't ever want to be without either of them.

-o-

He doesn't expect it to ever actually happen, especially not like that.

-o-

If Sora was being honest, he'd admit to being upset when Riku had challenged him to see who would get to share the Paopu fruit with Kairi. He'd also admit that he didn't really know why; the idea of Kairi sharing with him or with Riku isn't bad, it doesn't bother him, it just feels _wrong_. Like something is missing, like there's a piece of a puzzle he just can't find.

He doesn't really have time to think about it, with all that ends up happening after.

-o-

Riku was swallowed up by some weird black thing that could only be described as physical corporal darkness, Kairi's just plain gone and disappeared somehow, and Sora's left alone for the first time in years with some giant key thing called a keyblade and apparently a destiny to save all the worlds.

He doesn't care about that though, at least not as much as he should at least.

He just wants to find Riku make sure he's okay, to make sure Kairi is alright wherever she is. He just needs to find them and bring them back. To him that's much more important than the fate of all the worlds that apparently exist –no matter how selfish it sounds.

He does it though, partly because it's the right thing and partly because if there are as many worlds as they are making him believe, he'll be searching for a while, and Sora has never been fond of being alone.

-o-

He pretends it doesn't bother him, being stranded in new places with people he's never met, and it doesn't –at least, not really. Sora loves new people, loves making new friends, but he just can't forget that his friends are out there somewhere and he doesn't even know if there safe. The last he saw of Riku was darkness – and he knows now, that it really was the darkness that swallowed his friends and his home world up – taking him whole and the last he saw of Kairi was her passing right through him as if that was something that was physically possible. He's worried, beyond worried, but he can't let it get to him, can't let it keep him distracted from what needs to be done.

' _The gummy ship runs on happy faces!'_ Donald had said and Sora keeps that message close, there's no time for feeling sad, not now.

He has things to do, and people who are counting on him. He'll keep his worry and fears close, use them to keep going, as a reason to move forward and not stray. He'll find them, and he'll save the world because he has the power to do so.

The keyblade is a weapon of light, of hope, and he'll believe in that with all he's got.

-o-

Donald and Goofy are friends, they are more than that, but he doesn't know what exactly that is.

Obviously, the step above friends is best friends; Sora knows that, he's not stupid, but that doesn't seem right either. Riku and Kairi are his best friends, his most important people, but the feeling they give him is different from Donald and Goofy. He doesn't get it, he's wrong somewhere in his reasoning but he can't figure out where.

He wonders if it's because the way their bond was forged is why, that Donald and Goofy joined him out of duty to their king yet they have come to care for each other regardless. That their friendship comes from their battles together, that they have all come to care for each other regardless of position or rank.

He wants to think that's why it feels so different, and maybe in part it is – at least it's why he considers himself closer to them than people like Wakka and Tidus, but not why it doesn't fit the same bill as Riku and Kairi.

He'll figure it out eventually.

-o-

The first time he sees Riku in Traverse Town never leaves his mind, he wants to be put at ease at the sight –to be okay with just seeing him okay; but he isn't. He's beyond relieved, he's not saying he isn't, but it doesn't stop the clench in his heart that something isn't right.

Riku doesn't seem the same, a difference that he can't put his finger on, and then he's gone before Sora can even properly figure it out. Riku will be fine though, he has to believe in that, he's strong and capable and _alive_ all Sora has to do now is find Kairi (who he still hasn't even heard a whisper of and it makes him want to scream) and they can all be together again.

Except he finds Riku again, though it's more like Riku finds him, and he's found Kairi but it's just not _right_. Something is definitely wrong with her, she seems vacant and hollow in a way he doesn't really get but just seems to know. It's just that looking at her makes his heartache, ache in a different way than Riku but it's just as unpleasant.

He'll fix it, he'll fix it, it's becoming some sort of a mantra; he'll save the world and he'll save his most important people and it'll all be okay.

So, of course then, it isn't.

-o-

The Riku who stands before him spewing cruel words that he _means_ that aren't just bad jokes or misspoken words isn't the Riku he knows. Though he isn't surprised, not as much as he wants to be, he's known something's been wrong with the other since they first got separated on the Islands what feels like so very long ago.

The keyblade gets taken, his friends leave him, and Sora is alone for the second time and all he can feel is worry, worry for Riku, worry for Kairi, worry for the worlds he won't be able to save – the people inside them that are counting on him – and he knows he can't stop to feel sorry for himself.

So he swallows his worries and fears and moves forward with nothing but a toy sword to aid him; it feels nostalgic, and despite everything that's happening around him he can't help but want to smile. It feels like Riku and Kairi are right here with him, and soon both of them really will be.

.

You know, at this point, all Sora is hoping for is that his life doesn't become a series of bad events and dashed hopes after another –it really starts to drain on a guy.

He gets the keyblade back but it all just goes downhill from there. Riku's gone, something – someone; Ansem seeker of darkness he sneers in his head – else is there in his place. Kairi's heart has apparently been inside him this whole time and he's the reason she hasn't woken up. He isn't sure why he believes in that so easily, but he does, it seems right. Though believing in that means admitting he's the reason Kairi seems so hollow and broken. It also means he's the only one that can fix it.

Unlocking it makes everything grow cold and fade away – memories falling and fading and he doesn't want to forget _no not them_ – only to be snapped back into place moments later, Kairi, _Kairi_ whole and correct right there in front of him.

Despite the growing warmth in his chest, the absolute rush of relief that at least one of his important people is finally okay, Sora doesn't stop not when Riku is still not safe. Still not with them like he's always supposed to be.

Kairi understands, he can tell with a simple glance at her bright and resolute eyes; 'bring him back to us' they seem to say, and Sora has every intention of doing so. They both know she can't fight, but it doesn't mean she can't help.

.

The Keyblade in his hand is warm in a way none of the others are, Kairi's charm almost seeming to glow from where it swings off its chain at the hilt.

 _Oathkeeper_ is the name that whispers itself into his mind and he could not think of a more suited name for it. He'll make sure he keep his promise, his oath, to Kairi, to Riku, he thinks with a nod, grip on the Keyblade tightening momentarily.

They'll save him together, because it's her that's giving him the power to do so, they're together even when they are not.

-o-

He doesn't want to close the door to darkness, not once he knows Riku is on the other side. He was going to save him, not trap him a place that is so much like what he had just struggled to escape.

But Riku smiles, and despite what he wants to do he complies. Burns the image of his friend's smile, the first one he's seen in what feels like forever, into his mind and keeps his close.

The door closes and he tries to ignore what feels like a sense of finality, because this isn't over yet.

-o-

It's not as if he wants to feel sad –Sora hates feeling down. He knows Kairi's back safe on the island, Riku's with King Mickey so Sora knows he'll be all right, but it still doesn't make him hurt any less. He can't help but feel that everything he did ended up for nothing, the worlds are safe for the time being but he's still not any closer to Riku and Kairi than he was before.

He can't head home to Kairi, not without making sure Riku is safe, not without finding him and taking him back home with him.

But for now, all he can do is follow the set path in front of him.

-o-

He won't remember what happens in this castle, not the people he meets (the people he kills), the choices he makes, nor the path he chooses. In the end, it all fades away by cause of the girl who both saved him and put him here in the first place.

He is thankful, for reasons he is glad he won't remember. It is horrifying to think that even though it was mostly beyond his control, he still allowed his memories to be changed in such a way. That he allowed himself to forget that which is most important to him.

He won't remember any of this, and it might be for the best.

-o-

He wakes up and somehow a year has passed, his body has grown and his clothes fit uncomfortably on him. He doesn't know what has happened and neither do Donald and Goofy, a year of his life is missing and it makes him feel unsettled.

At least, he thinks that's it, he doesn't know how else to explain the heaviness in his heart. These feelings of rage and sorrow and grief that feel as bottled up as they feel as if they're about to overflow within him. These foreign feelings that do not feel his own even if they must be, because from who else could they be?

Kairi's heart is gone and there can't possibly be more people resting within him.

He pushes the thought away, it doesn't matter, he has a year of catching up to do, a year in which he could've found Riku just suddenly gone –what if he was still lost in the Realm of Darkness? No, no for some reason that just doesn't seem right.

Riku is out there in a world somewhere and Sora is going to find him and bring him back, he's going to keep his oath to Kairi. It was the plan before, and it's still the plan now.

-o-

As always though, it gets slightly derailed, not by much however, in the end it all finally works out.

-o-

It all comes to a head at The World That Never Was.

He finds Kairi there, she'd been kidnapped (and oh how he'd panic because he left her behind so she'd be _safe_ not put in more danger) but somehow there she is fighting right alongside him. He's relieved and even more relieved when he finds out that it is Riku that had helped her along.

He can't help that he cries, he can't help the way his knees give out underneath him. He has never felt so much relief, so much joy, so much simple _release_ all at once before. They are together, all three of them, for the first time in over a year.

He doesn't want to let go, and for a single moment doesn't even want to move forward because he doesn't want to risk losing this yet again. He does though, because Sora has a duty now, and with his friends – with his most important people – by his side he can't imagine losing at all.

-o-

It starts with a wish to leave and ends with a desire to go home.

It started with their world of light swallowed by darkness, and ends with a door to light brightening this realm of darkness.

It starts with three, and it ends with three.

(And perhaps, this is how it was always meant to be.)

-o-

He isn't sure why one day he wakes up and everything makes sense, he is not sure why one day he wakes up and suddenly every befuddling feeling he had felt during his journeys suddenly have answers clear as day.

Perhaps it is because they will have to leave again, and he fears they will be separated. Perhaps it is because it is this fear that he really and truly ponders what exactly his two most important people really mean to him. Perhaps it was always destined to be this very moment.

In the end it doesn't really matter, the results the same regardless.

-o-

"Sora, Sora slow down!" He ignores the call though, he needs to be first, needs to be ready when they get there.

He probably should've just gone ahead first but he hadn't wanted to miss the ride there together.

Still, when they finally arrive he's ready, arms hidden behind his back as he leans against the palm tree they had spent so much time by before.

"Sora what was the point of dragging us to Play Island if you were just going to run off the moment we landed." Riku said, face forming a poor imitation of annoyed.

"It's really, super, important, but I wanted it to be a surprise." He replied, rocking forward on his heels, grin growing. Riku glanced at Kairi, who returned his skeptic stare but he paid it no mind, this was a big moment. His heart was beating loudly in his chest and he was more worried than he thought it would be that this wouldn't work out. "I wanted us to share this!" He finally continued, revealing the Paopu fruit he had hidden behind his back.

He sees Kairi's eyes widen and Riku's hesitant step back as a frown etches itself across his face –his mood drops the slightest bit but he doesn't let it stop him, he's not giving up now.

"Should I leave?" He hears Riku ask, voice a tone he has never heard come from him and looks to see him steadily avoiding eye contact with either of them.

"No!" He bursts out, and feels assured enough to continue when Riku turns his gaze back to him, "I want all three of us to share it."

"You do know this is usually done between with two people right?"

"So what, you two are my most important people, I care about you guys more than anything why would I ever have to choose between two people I love!?" He stumbles near the end, slightly embarrassed and afraid, and even more so when he feels the warmth rise in his cheeks.

He gets no response to his outburst, though when he turns his gaze back to them and he sees two equally red faces he feels some modicum of confidence come back to him.

"So you'll do it!" He throws his hands up, nearly dropping the Paopu fruit, in excitement, laughing as Riku buries his face into his palms and grumbles while Kairi's seem to twitch in front of her in some sort of aborted movement he doesn't even think she knows is supposed to be.

"… Yes," they say in unison, voices sounding tired but happy and their smiles wide.

He extends the fruit instead of replying and feels indescribable warmth as they both reach out to grab it with him. Their eyes meet for a second and then they each take a bite out of it.

It's a lot sourer than he would've expected and his eyes sting a bit from it, but there is a buzzing warmth in him that he can almost touch right now. And although it feels like nothing has really changed, at the same time it feels like everything has.

"Oh!" He shouts, hitting his palm with his fist as if it were a judge's gavel, "We have to go fix the drawing in the Secret Place it's not accurate."

He heads off without them, once again ignoring their calls for him to slow down. For once he can feel with absolute assurance that everything will be all right, that no matter what they will always find their way back to each other.

.

..

…

….

…..

"I leave you two alone for no more than a couple of days and look what happens! I never should have let you both go off on your own –that has never worked out well for anyone." Kairi says as she comes in, a slightly chastised looking Riku following behind her.

He smiles at her and though she returns it briefly, her face settles back into a frown. She heads right for him ignoring the baffled looking Lea that is also with him in the room.

"You have to be more careful than that Sora, what if Riku hadn't been there."

"But he was, and he always will be, just like you!" Her face reddens but it's nothing compared to the bright red that Riku has turned. It's amusing to him, because he doesn't really always get why exactly it is they've started to blush.

Usually Kairi or Riku would gently smack him for such a remark but instead they both turn with identical looks of sombreness.

"You know just because we shared that Paopu fruit doesn't mean were infallible."

"Of course I do, but it does means you'll always be by my side and that's just as good for me."

Both of them open their mouths to retort, but neither get a chance to as Lea's voice interrupts their conversation, he can see Kairi jump out of the corner of his eye as he turns to face him, most likely because she hadn't even noticed the others presence.

"Wait, wait, wait, are you telling me you three all shared that destiny fruit?"

"Absolutely, their mine and I'm theirs and we're going to be together for the rest of our lives and all the ones after that." His chest puffs out in pride even if all Lea does in response is raise an eyebrow.

"Sora!" Riku and Kairi exclaim in unison, their faces once again a bright red as their voices pile on top of each other, each saying the same thing with varying degrees of embarrassment.

"Unbelievable," Lea mutters sometime later once they've both calmed down and are instead seated on either side of Sora, hands all clasped together as they talk amongst each other.

And Sora can't help but agree, it really is unbelievable.

* * *

Word Count: 3462

I 100% believe that Sora would be the person who says a lot of embarrassing shit but wouldn't _realize_ just how embarrassing it really is so he's just there saying these things all happy while Riku and Kairi kind of die.

Also I apologize if Sora seems a bit OOC, this fic really got away from me from what I intended to write and what ended up happening -still despite how Sora outwardly acts I think inwardly he'd be a bit more stressed, happiness can only take you so far when you're like 12 and suddenly you have the fate of the worlds on your hands and your two closest friends are missing.

Alrighty I'm out let's see if finishing this can help motivate me to finish the next chapter of ltpfwtm lmao

Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
